To Keep A Kamiya
by Schnickledooger
Summary: Sequel To Catch An Ishida. Matt doesn't have a fear of expressing his feelings openly. He just wishes he could be as creative and spontaneous as Tai sometimes, that's all.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own **Digimon.** Toei Animation does.

**Summary: **Sequel **To Catch An Ishida. **Matt doesn't have a fear of expressing his feelings openly. He just wishes he could be as creative and spontaneous as Tai sometimes, that's all.

**To Keep A Kamiya**

Truth be told, having Tai for his boyfriend really didn't change the dynamics of their relationship much. It wasn't as if Tai did horribly crude things like molest him in a crowded elevator or utterly embarrassing things like Jun Motomiya screaming out at the top of her lungs at a live concert that she wanted to have his babies. In fact, as far as being in a relationship went, Matt rather liked that Tai didn't insist on doing incredibly silly things such making him wear a necklace that was half of a whole while Tai wore the other so that the world would know they were "soul mates". Unlike Sora, Tai didn't blow up because Matt had forgotten some important date like their two-week anniversary or the exact location where they had shared their first meal as an official couple. He didn't have to worry about bringing flowers over every time he visited—in fact, he was sure Tai would be affronted if he had. And Tai didn't pressure him with any ridiculous demands such as naming stars after each other. Tai remained the same friend he had known ever since their first adventures together in the Digital World. Tai didn't rag on him about the time away Matt spent with his band or whine about them not growing closer in a "steady, stable relationship" whatever that entailed. Tai didn't cling, Tai gave him space—to all of which Matt was eternally grateful for.

Sometimes Matt forgot that Tai had become more than just his best friend. He was usually reminded at the most casual of times like when they were playing _Gran Turismo 3_ on PlayStation. He would be winning and intently focused on the game, and Tai would lean over and capture his lips in a swift, searing kiss that caused Matt's blood to rush madly to his head and the world to dissolve around him. Then Tai would pull away leaving Matt with his mouth still tingling from the aftershock and a faint, distant roaring in his ears… which turned out to be the sound of his car crashing and going up in a spectacular explosion on the screen.

"Yahoo!" Tai would leap up and shout excitedly, exhilarated at his victory despite it having been achieved by such an uncouth, ulterior manner.

"Y-You… _cheated!_" Matt would try to protest, but he could never stay angry for too long.

Not when Tai would roll his eyes and snort at his outraged expression, grab him by the front of his shirt and proceed to show him in a mutual clashing of lips and tongue how a certain other game was far more superior and sensual, and by the end, Matt would be thoroughly convinced.

He got used to it—the odd intervals where Tai demonstrated their friendship being taken to an all-new level and Matt was forever being taken off guard.

Demonstrations such as them walking down the sidewalk and engaging in a stimulating conversation—so enjoyable that Matt wouldn't even been aware that they had come to an intersection and his and Tai's hands would be clasped tightly until they had started to cross it when the people around them had begun to cultivate pointed staring.

Matt would sputter, turn red and try to frantically disentangle their entwined appendages only to be stopped by Tai who would place his_ other_ hand atop of their enfolded ones, stare at him very solemnly and state, "Don't you remember the rules we were taught, Matt? You have to hold hands when crossing the street."

And Matt would stop struggling, because well… Tai was _right._

Of course, later, after his brain had regenerated from the pile of mushy goo it had transformed into when it had been zapped by Tai's piercing stare—by his stunning brown eyes—Matt realized that rule only applied to children and he had been hoodwinked by his friend yet again, but by then it had been far too late.

Matt supposed he should have been more concerned for himself—about why he had suddenly decided to turn and "bat for the other team" so to speak, but really, he wasn't attracted to any other male except Tai. Tai with his wild bushy hair that would tickle his cheek when the other's head loll against his shoulder in exhaustion after hours of sitting on the couch studying and comparing notes for final exams. Tai with his contagious laughter and lop-sided smile that brightened whatever drab day Matt had been having. Tai with his natural cologne of sweat and the earthy smell of grass from playing soccer. Tai was an addiction that Matt found himself completely succumbed to. Something that had wormed its way into his life and now that he hoped would never leave him.

Tai didn't hassle him about telling others about their relationship nor did he put on a possessive, clingy act when there was a crowd to show who he belonged to. He acted just as normally as he had when they were merely friends and nothing more. It made Matt feel guilty, as if he was the one ashamed of their relationship and was hiding behind a false front, but Tai didn't seem particularly too concerned about this dilemma.

"You like me and I like you. You know that and I know that. That's all that matters," Tai had told him when Matt finally had plucked up the courage to share his feelings. "There's no need to go shouting from a mountaintop to prove that to the world."

Still, Matt felt there must be something he could do to show Tai that he cared, that he was the best thing that had ever happened to him, that his life would be boring and drab without his crazy personality to give him the push he needed to keep going, that he was that irritating splash of sunshine that blinded people yet gently caressed them with its warmth enough that they didn't care if they got burned in the process. He suspected Tai already knew that he felt all this about him even if Matt never had vocalized it out loud, which therein lay the problem entirely.

Matt wished he didn't have this huge handicap on his life. He didn't have a fear of expressing his feelings openly. He just wished he could be as creative as Tai sometimes, that's all.

It was easy to tell someone "I love you", but really that phrase dimmed in comparison to other examples. Tai could have been the poster-boy of the "actions speak louder than words" campaign.

oOo

He's washing dishes and Tai comes over to put his empty glass in the sink and his arm is in front of Matt's chest for a split second and their faces hair-breaths away.

"Dinner was real good," Tai whispers in his ear, tickling the sensitive skin there and Matt loses his handle on the dishes and soap suds fly up every which direction.

Matt spends the next few minutes pretending to be annoyed and giving Tai a lecture on surprising people like that while secretly enjoying the massage his head receives as Tai laughs apologetically toweling the soap suds off and teasing him for worrying about his "precious girly hairdo".

_You're cute when you're flustered._

oOo

He's sick and Tai comes over to see why he wasn't in school that day and Matt tries to tell himself the little chills traveling down his spine are symptoms of his cold not a result of the gentle touch of Tai's hand against his forehead as he checks his temperature.

_I'm worried about you._

oOo

He's getting carpal tunnel surgery on his wrist and he's terrified because what if the operation goes wrong and he can't use his hand anymore or play his guitar or harmonica ever again—there would go his career as a music artist, but he keeps his fears bottled up all to himself.

"I'm deathly afraid of dentists," Tai admits as he rides with him to the hospital (for company he says). "They had to knock me out with sleeping gas when I had to get my tooth pulled out because I kept trying to kick the dentist in the shins and screaming so loudly I was frightening the other patients. Now they have this sign on their door: 'Everyone gives us joy that comes through this door. Some when they enter, some when they leave.' Suspiciously, it arrived sometime after my first visit."

Matt laughs at the image and feels the pressure on his chest loosen as Tai places a comforting hand on top of his bandaged one.

_It's okay to be scared. Don't be, I'm here._

oOo

Matt had always envied Tai for his courage, at his zest for life and the things he loved no matter how spontaneous he was at showing it. Just once, he thought, he wanted to prove to the whole world through some sort of action this Ishida was not a repressed, withdrawn person suffering from social phobia. To do something totally crazy, completely out of character for him and prove to Tai how much he meant to him.

Which happened to be the reason why he was standing backstage before one of his concerts, half-dreading, half-anticipating for the curtain to rise.

"_I'm sorry, I can't go to your soccer game," he said regretfully. "I have a concert that night."_

"_Don't grow grey hairs fretting about it," Tai said ruffling his hair playfully, knowing that would irritate him. "The game's way over in Nagoya anyway. Don't know why you wanted to travel two hours by train there in the first place—no one else is going. It'll be fine, enjoy your concert."_

_He supposed he must have looked really distraught, because then Tai had said, "I'll still catch your concert, I promise. They're broadcasting live this time right? I'll watch it on one of the guys' handheld tv gizmos on the way there."_

He hadn't been distraught over Tai not seeing his concert though. He had wanted to show Tai that he would traverse long distances just to attend something that Tai considered important—that he cared about what Tai cared about. Alright, so it wasn't his greatest idea and might have been kind of cheesy and sappy now that he thought about it, but at least Tai would have seen and understood what the gesture meant. But now…

Now it was the night of that concert, Tai was halfway to Nagoya, his public awaited him and he was about to do by far the most insane thing in his entire life simply to prove a point.

Well, if all went badly, whoever had created the line "all in the name of love" would still be rooting for him at least.

The audience's screams and applause of excitement were thunderous as the curtain slowly rose and Matt's heart thumped wildly in his ribcage as he stepped out into the limelight and began to sing, hoping fervently that Tai was watching somewhere or else this would have been all for nothing.

oOo

"So, the concert was a smash hit last night, I hear," Tai said later the next day back from his win in Nagoya with a fresh sheen of tan.

"Oh, you didn't watch it then?" Matt said ever so casually, hiding his disappointment.

"Caught like the first three minutes before Mr. Fujiyama turned the bus on dime doing a U-turn and Sano dropped the tv and broke it," Tai explained.

Matt was quiet. Three minutes would have been enough. Even one would have sufficed.

"Oh, yeah, this morning I picked up some magazines covering the _Teenage Wolves_' concert last night," Tai said pulling them out of his backpack and presenting them to Matt with a wide, cheeky grin. "You ever consider forgoing the music industry and entering modeling? They barely mentioned your new songs—they were more interested in 'Ishida's bold new style: a kind of punk, athletic look' and were massively curious on who the designer of your clothes is. Nice outfit by the way."

Matt looked down at the cover of the magazine that Tai had tossed onto his lap and was granted with the image of himself the previous night onstage singing, gripping the microphone with fingerless, white gloves as neon lights brilliantly illuminated the blue t-shirt with yellow layering underneath and twin orange stars on the sleeves.

'**Our Favorite Wolf Has A Brand New Pelt!' **- was the headline for the cover.

Matt felt heat consume his entire face and knew that it had turned as red as fire. God, what had he been _thinking_ yesterday? It had seemed so much simpler then. Just a hats off gesture to Tai that no one else would catch the drift of, though it had raised the eyebrows of the Digidestined that were in the audience. After all, they had recognized and knew where the shirt had come from, but for all they could guess, it was a sign of goodwill and friendship towards Tai, not anything deeper.

What if Tai thought the same thing too? What if he hadn't caught the meaning behind it? What if he had and thought it was silly? What if—

"Hey, wanna see some pictures of the guys and me celebrating our victory?" Tai said suddenly, interrupting his flow of frantic thoughts and dangling a photograph in front of his still-flaming face so he could see Tai and the rest of the soccer team chowing down pizza and saluting the camera.

Tai in the photograph, who was wearing a familiar-looking, silky black t-shirt that had a pepperoni slice stuck half-way down its front.

"_Omigawd!"_ Matt exploded, his embarrassment transforming into rage. "I've been looking everywhere for that shirt! I thought Jun had nicked it somehow and locked it away in her shrine that she no doubt has of me! It was _you?_ You took it! You took it and got pizza sauce all over it! You know that stuff never comes out! And here I was so careful with _yours!_ See how you like it when I drop raw eggs on it, you bushy-haired, soccer-freak, shirt-stealing—"

"Oh, shut up, you hypocrite," Tai said, effectively sealing off his mad rant with the firm pressure of his lips against his.

Matt raised his hands to pound Tai's head in—because he was _not _getting distracted _that _easily dammit!—but somehow they wound up wrapping themselves around his neck instead. And while Matt realized they were in a very good position to wring Tai's neck, he figured it would be colossal waste in the end and there were other ways of getting even.

Besides, Tai had heard his message loud and clear and was responding with his own.

_I love you too._

**The End**

**A/N: **I wanted to make this as humorous as **To Catch An Ishida**, but Matt and Tai were adamant on Fluff. Come on, FF Net, add that genre already! Anyway, I just love writing Matt/Tai romance fics that show they still have this rivalry thing going on. That's part of the attraction: how to outshine the other. It's a love-hate relationship, everyone agrees on this^^

Oh, and Tai's story about his experience with dentists? This happened to me, word for word, except for being knocked out with sleeping/laughing gas, which they totally should have done. Seriously, someone tries to put a needle the size of a rolling pin in your mouth and what do you expect a little kid to do when they see that? Yeah, they put that sign up as vengeance. It's still there a decade and some later. They're evil. I think they're in league with Myotismon or something.

One more thing, I'm adding some links to my profile to two Digimon amvs I made if anyone wants to check them out. They're like campaign ads for Digimon Adventure set to the Discovery Channel song. Boom De Ya Da, anyone? Kekeke!

Don't forget to review! Please feel free to quote your favorite lines and scenes! I love hearing what you loved reading! Reviews are a fanfic writer's soul food! Thank you!


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